Glass is just clay you can see through. They consist of the same properties and require many of the same treatments. Knowledge of ceramics and the ability to make simple forms in clay is of great benefit in glass fusing. This two-day workshop will take students through the basics of glass cutting, fusing and slumping. We will discuss the unique characteristics of glass and how the kiln process changes the material from separate, laminated pieces of glass to a fused and melted single sheet of glass. In a separate firing the work is then ‘slumped’ over or into bisque fired ceramic forms. Simple fusing and slumping firing schedules will be discussed and students will go away with a completed work and enough knowledge to use their own programmable kilns to fuse and slump glass.

Blaise DePaolo earned her MFA in Ceramic Sculpture at the Rochester Institute of Technology, School of American Craft in 1997 with a minor in glass. She did her undergraduate work at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. DePaolo’s travels in Mexico and Central America have been a defining influence on her work. She has exhibited nationally, is a member artist of Baltimore Clayworks, a faculty member of the Fine Art Department at Morgan State University and has created numerous public art projects in Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. She lives with her husband and two sons in the Idlewylde neighborhood of Baltimore County. www.blaisedepaolo.com

WS03 - Saturday & Sunday, 10-4pm, June 22 & 23

Fee: $200 members; $225 non-members

Contact Matthew Hyleck at matt.hyleck@baltimoreclayworks.org for more information.